The Deep-Sea Mineral Trade-Off Behind Clean Technology Artwork

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Climate Confident - Practical Climate Solutions That Cut Emissions

The Deep-Sea Mineral Trade-Off Behind Clean Technology

December 10, 2025 • Tom Raftery • Season 1 • Episode 250

0:00 | 46:51

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What if the clean energy transition depended on potato-sized rocks four miles under the Pacific, and we’ve barely started talking about it?

In this episode I’m joined by Oliver Gunasekara, CEO and co-founder of Impossible Metals, to tackle one of the most uncomfortable truths in climate tech: there is no net zero without mining. We dig into how deep sea polymetallic nodules, AI-driven underwater robots and smarter policy could reshape the energy transition, emissions reduction, and even the geopolitical balance with China.

You’ll hear why 84% of global mining today is still for fossil fuels – and what happens to decarbonisation when ore grades on land collapse to 0.2% while nodules sit at the 4% level. We get into how autonomous robots can hover above the seabed, detect and avoid life, and selectively collect nodules, and why the choice of mining technology matters as much as the decision to mine at all.

We also explore the hard politics: critical minerals as a strategic vulnerability, the West’s dependence on Chinese processing, and why delaying decisions on deep sea mining could mean more rainforest lost, higher battery prices, and a slower energy transition. Kismet: the market for nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese is on track to hit $1 trillion a year by 2035 – and we’re still arguing about whether mining “counts” as climate tech.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how Oliver and Impossible Metals are trying to square the circle: scaling climate tech and critical minerals without trashing the planet in the process.

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